


Anew

by glorious_clio



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 12:06:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9725624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glorious_clio/pseuds/glorious_clio
Summary: Leia's a little tired, but she and Han have one more thing to do today.(Set after Taking Root, but not necessary to read first.)





	

“Tired?”

“A little,” she admitted.  

Han chuckled.  

Tired was the word. But so was happy. Comfortable.   _Well_ , Leia thought, _kind of comfortable_. She was relishing the feeling of laying on her back for a change. Soon she’d be able to lay on her stomach. And someday soon, drink wine.

Later. For now, she felt a little punch drunk and emotional without alcohol’s help.  

Han was next to her on the bed, the newborn tucked under his chin.  

“Hmmm,” she said, resting her hand on the baby’s back gently smoothing the slight wrinkles in the blanket he was swaddled in.  

“Wanna hold him again?” he asked, sounding almost resigned to giving him up.

“In a minute.” She had held him from the first minute, the midwife passing him up to rest against her breasts. He was slippery from fluids she didn’t want to name, but Han’s large hand was instantly there, anchoring him to her.

The baby had steadied and settled quickly on her chest. Leia had known from her research that babies do better with immediate contact with their parents after birth. She had been unprepared for how overwhelming that moment would be. She was filled with love that had been growing for this little baby, but was also missing her parents, Bail and Breha. Her first thought upon seeing her son’s thick black hair was that it was a family trait.  

After more than a few tears, a shaky shower for her and a warm bath for the baby, they were curled in the same big soft bed, Han holding the baby on his chest, her hand anchoring. Anchoring herself.  

“He’s here,” she said.  

“He is,” Han replied, his voice gravelly with affection.

“Can we think about names now?” Leia asked.  

“He might want one,” Han agreed.

(A few months ago, she’d had the night off and over a dinner with just the two of them, she started suggesting names. He’d stopped her.

“On Corellia, it’s bad luck to name a baby before it’s born.”

Han wasn’t naturally superstitious- not really- but he looked serious enough that she took him at his word then. She hadn’t suggested a name since.)

Leia laughed softly. “Yeah. Most kids do.”

She could make Han get her holopad to look up names, but that seemed like effort. Instead she wiggled a little closer to him.  Han pressed his hand over hers on the baby’s back.  

The baby was facing her, and she zeroed in on his little nose. There was a constellation of freckles across the bridge, and his eyelashes were dark dark dark against his white skin.  

“I love him,” she said simply.

“He smells good.”

Leia laughed again and there was a knock at the door.  

“Luke!” she greeted and waved him in. The door snicked open and her Jedi brother strode across the room, his robes billowing.  

Leia sat up, Han stood, gingerly balancing his precious cargo, making his way around the bed.

“Sorry I’m late,” Luke said sheepishly, passing her a bouquet of Rominaria flowers. “The flower-seller said they were good luck for births.”

“They’re lovely,” Leia said. She delicately sniffed the flowers. “They smell like him!”

Luke chuckled.  “Maybe that’s why they’re lucky?”

Leia gently set them next to her bedside.  

“I should have gotten a vase,” Luke said.

“Don’t worry about it, kid,” Han said gently. “He won’t even remember.” He nudged Luke’s shoulder with his own and without any further discussion, Han gently passed the baby to Luke.  

“OH!” Luke said, catching his nephew gracelessly.  Han coached Luke for a moment, with a “Support his head...”

“Han’s an expert at this.” Leia grinned impishly.

“No comments from the peanut gallery,” Han replied primly.  

Leia threw a pillow at him.  

“Have you named him yet?” Luke asked, pausing the argument that wasn’t.

“No, we were just thinking about that, but my holopad is too far away,” Leia said. She gestured hopelessly at her bag in the corner of the room.  

Luke seemed to be barely paying attention to what she was saying.  

“Did you want your holopad that badly, Leia?” Han asked.  

She smiled and shook her head, turning her attention back to her twin.  

Gently, Luke brushed a finger through Ben’s dark dark hair. “He looks like himself,” he said reverently.  

And it hit Leia then that the three of them had faced down unimaginable terror and loss at the hands of the Empire, but none of them had ever been around a baby for extended periods of time.  She didn’t know what to name the baby, but she hoped and prayed that her son would never ever have to face any of the horror they had defeated so he could be here with them. Leia fussed with her braid as she tried not to think about what had brought her to this path to this Naboo birth center.  

Han sat next to her again, taking her hand.  “You have that look in your eyes, Leia.”

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts.  “Just thinking about that first day we met, all that loss, and then this. He’s a gift, Han, and we... if you had told me that day what would happen, I wouldn’t have gotten on your ship.”

He squeezed her hand. “As it was, you barely did. Of course, the first time you saw the _Falcon_ , you called me brave.” He waggled his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes. He kissed her cheek.  

Luke finally looked up.  “Did you say something?”

Leia shook her head. “Not really. No, we haven’t thought of a name yet.”

“Oh, okay, then,” Luke replied. He walked around the bed and settled into a deep armchair by the window.  The sun was setting and the light was low and gentle.  Outside the window was one of Naboo’s beautiful lakes.  

“Probably not a family name,” Leia said softly, plucking softly at her blanket. Han had no family besides Chewie (he was on his way from Kashyyyk where he was riding the planet from the remnants of Imperial rule). Her own family was lost before Luke rushed into her cell, telling her he was here with Ben Kenobi....

“Can I suggest Han Jr.?”

“No,” said Luke, chuckling.  

... The first name had meant nothing to her then, the Kenobi was what caught her mind....

“Well we’re not calling him Luke, sorry, kid,” Han teased.

“What about Chewie?” Luke offered. “He’s a great warrior, you know.”

...she had met his Force ghost once, on this very planet. _“You can call me Ben, as Luke does.”_ he had offered. If it weren’t for General Kenobi, they never would have come for her. They never would have....

“I don’t think Leia’s gonna go for that,” Han said.

...Ben.  Leia gazed at the baby in her twin’s arms. He was a little yellow light in her mind and she touched it gently. _Ben?_ She offered the name to the baby.  The yellow light grew brighter, and she watched in amazement as the baby opened his eyes.  

“Well how do you know, you haven’t given her a chance!”

Leia smiled. “Luke, can you bring me Ben? I think I’m ready to try feeding him again.”  

Both men turned to look at her.  She shrugged a shoulder and held out her arms.  

“Ben?” Han said gently.  

“Don’t you think?” Leia said, growing a little impatient to hold her tiny son again.  She prodded Luke in her mind.  

“I mean....” Han said.

Luke got to his feet and handed over the baby, who was beginning to fuss.  

She loosened his blanket so he could squirm and kick, then opened her gown to nurse him. It took him a minute to latch on, but he got there eventually.

“Do you hate it?” Leia said looking up at Han.  

His eyes were round and he had obviously given the name a bit of thought.

“Ben,” Han said gently.  

“What do you think, Luke?” Leia turned to look at her brother.  

“I... think he would be honored,” he said shakily.

Leia nodded and turned her attention back to her son. _Ben_.

After another moment, Han said, “Well, I like it, and I don’t have any better ideas.”

Leia smiled at baby Ben, “Listen, Ben, your father told the truth! I always have the best ideas.”

“What was in that painkiller they gave you?” Han asked.

“Luke, can you smack Han for that comment?” Leia requested.  

Luke and Han both laughed.  

“Well,” Luke said standing. “I should leave you three alone. I’ll be back tomorrow, though.”

“Good,” said Han.

“Bring a vase,” Leia said, “for your flowers.”

Luke threw her a salute.

Leia settled back into her pillows, and when Ben was finished, she passed him back to Han to burp him.

“He looks like a Ben,” Han said. “What made you think of it?”

“Oh,” she said, rubbing Han’s knee gently. “I was just thinking of the day the three of us met, and it seemed, I don’t know. Right, somehow.”

“Well, Ben,” Han said to his son, in a jokingly firm voice.  “I didn’t know that fossil very well, and he never delivered on a payment he owed me-”

“Han-”

“Let me finish, Leia. Where was I? Oh yeah.” He snuggled Ben closer and slid down next to Leia. “But he was a good man, according to your Uncle Luke, and he had an appreciation for the _Falcon_ , so that’s good enough for me. You’ve got a solid name, and your mother’s a genius for thinking of it.”

“You are full of all kinds of compliments for me today,” Leia said sleepily.

He wrapped an arm around her.  

“Well, you did give birth to our son earlier this morning.”

“Mmm, I did, didn’t I?”

He kissed the crown of her head. “Get some sleep, Senator. I’ve got Ben.”

She smiled. Reaching out a hand to Ben’s back again, she closed her eyes and fell asleep to the sound of Han and Ben’s breathing.    


**Author's Note:**

> IDK if this is good or not but here it is! Unbeta'd.


End file.
